Diego Abente provides health care to St. Louis’ immigrant and refugee community. Kelly McGowan helps Black St. Louisans engage with local policymakers. CJ Walker connects local community health workers. These three St. Louis area leaders recently received $200,000 each from the Missouri Foundation for Health to spark their ability to move forward with their work.
They are among the first cohort of awardees chosen for the Spark Prize, part of the foundation’s “prize philanthropy” efforts, which use financial rewards to encourage continued innovation. The unrestricted awards recognize and support individual efforts and ongoing vision. Two other 2025 awardees are based in Columbia and Kansas City.
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“Saluting these individuals is a way of supporting their work in their communities because it will take multiple approaches to achieve health equity,” says Dwayne Proctor, MFH president and CEO. “It starts with identifying the innovators and lifting them up to the extent that we can.”
An MFH panel of statewide experts identified the five prize-winning innovators out of 170 nominations. Funds come from the foundation’s program budget, which awards more than $50 million in grants annually, supporting the foundation’s mission to “eliminate underlying causes of health inequities, transform systems, and enable individuals and communities to thrive.”
“Our thoughts are that (the awardees) are going to put this money to good use to advance things they find to be important, but it’s their call,” Proctor says. “This is not a lifetime achievement award. It’s fuel for what’s next.” He expects the prize will help encourage innovators to continue serving Missourians. “They know that their contributions could have a statewide impact, regardless of where their residents might be,” Proctor says. “Our focus is on not just St. Louis, but also the 84 counties in our service area. And we find that these individuals are making an impact across our service area.” The three St. Louis area winners all express their agreement that the Spark Prize will help support and grow their efforts.
Walker, founder and CEO of the Community Health Worker Coalition, sees the prize as a chance to carefully consider next steps for herself and her organization. “I plan to use this opportunity to do what I ask of my team and community all the time: breathe, listen, and build with intention,” she says.
“The Spark Prize isn’t a grant; it’s an investment in me as a leader,” Walker adds. “That distinction matters. After years of pouring everything I had into building something far bigger than myself, I now have the rare opportunity to pause, reflect, and begin reinvesting in my own becoming. It gives me the freedom to lead from a place of alignment, not exhaustion.”
Kelly McGowan, founder and executive director of Transform 314, similarly sees the prize leveraging her work. “I am passionate about increasing residents’ engagement in their local government, in particular groups that tend to not be engaged–Black St. Louisans,” she says. “This prize will move my work forward by ensuring the efforts in empowering residents to drive the changes they want to see in their communities –through local-level policy change – are executed on a much larger scale to impact and transform the St. Louis region and beyond.”
St. Louis’ third awardee, Diego Abente, president and CEO of Casa de Salud, also sees a bigger future for his endeavors with the funds. “I am hopeful that it will help me amplify the need to bridge gaps in care for under-resourced immigrants, a mission deeply rooted in my personal journey,” he says. “The Spark Prize represents an investment in bold and impactful change to build a more equitable and inclusive health care system for our region.”
Awardees will be recognized at MFH’s 25th anniversary commemoration on June 11.
2025 Spark Prize Awardees
- Diego Abente, President and CEO of St. Louis-based Casa de Salud: For expanding access to culturally responsive clinical and mental health care for immigrants and uninsured communities in Missouri.
- Emily Brown, Co-founder and CEO of Attane Health: For pioneering food-based health care solutions to address chronic disease and create healthier communities.
- Kelly McGowan, Founder and Executive Director of Transform 314: For using creative education and neighborhood-based solutions to reimagine how residents connect with local government.
- Ciearra “CJ” Walker, Founder and CEO of the Community Health Worker Coalition: For building a statewide career network to strengthen frontline health leadership and drive community-rooted change.
- Evonnia Woods, Organizer and Movement Builder: For creating new infrastructure for racial, reproductive, and economic justice across Missouri.
